Finding a church is hard...

So, I moved here with great hope. The job was right. The house was right. The fiance was right. The dog was right. The weather, sure as heck, was right. It all seemed to be falling into place.

Then came the issue of the church home in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

I never thought I was very demanding when it came to a church home. I grew up in a great church home called Grace Presbyterian Church in Plano, Texas. I still have GREAT friends from that church. I sang in the choir and praise band. I rang handbells. I attended youth group retreats ahd bible studies. I was a church staple.

I moved to Boston and easily found a church right down the street from my dorm. Park Street Church became my new church home for a year. It had a great choir and the pastor was incredible. He had gone to Harvard's divinity school and he really stretched my fair with his sermons. Incredible man.

Then, I went to Austin. I stumbled upon a wonderful church called University Presbyterian Church. It was near the campus (obviously, by the moniker) and had a marvelously talented choir, great handbell choir, friendly people and best of all - a pipe organ. I love pipe organs. It's pretty much the reason we're getting married there in less than three weeks (!!!!!!)

Of course, in March, I moved here (ABQ). The city was gorgeous. Everything seemed to be going swimmingly. So, I started to search around for a church.

I thought that it would be easy. This city, by far, is the most religious city I've lived in. However, I missed the small detail that everyone here is Catholic.

I found a church that wasn't close by (it's by the mountains) but it had a handbell choir that I was excited to participate in. I missed playing handbells. I tried to join the choir, but they practiced too late at night and were all old. That's a danger with being Presbyterian. Most people are super duper old. I don't know why, but Presbyterians are historically much older congregations. I didn't feel like I fit in there. David came to one service to see me play handbells. He, though certainly not a religious person, mentioned that he didn't like the church nor the pastor. I had explained it away because the pastor was an interim, so he, in theory, would not be there long. Despite all of that, David was right. I didn't really like it either.

So, today, I was going to find a new church to try. I had small requirements:

* Some sort of music ministry (whether it be choir, handbells, etc.)
* A stained glass window with a cross (I didn't think this would be such a requirement. However, it turns out that all the money in this city goes to Catholic cathedrals, so all the protestant churches are rather ugly on average)
* A pastor that looked like he/she was going to expand my faith, not lecture me on my politics. (Lately, people have been mixing up religion and politics. I don't like that. It's separate for a reason in the law and I respect that strongly. I've come to church to worship the Lord, not be lectured on whether I should pay less taxes.)
* Close-ish to home (I've found if it's rather far away, I'm less likely to go)
* Has some young people in it (I want to find another group of friends that has my religious base).

I spent this whole morning trying to find one and I think I found a main contender. It's a really small church, but that's not terrible. It's name? Rio Rancho Presbyterian Church. I'll be there next Sunday with bells on, Bible in hand. :)